Iowa men host Penn State Friday looking to end current funk
By Hawk Fanatic
IOWA CITY, Iowa – As he met with the media following Tuesday’s 72-67 loss to Minnesota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa senior forward Payton Sandfort had shifted from being the team leader on the court to the team leader off the court.
He was sending a message, probably the same message he would say to his teammates in private on how to handle adversity.
“We’ll figure it out,” Payton Sandfort said after Iowa’s third straight loss. “Teams go through these funks through the year. But the only thing we can do is just stay together. I believe in everybody in that room. I believe in the coaching staff and myself and others.
“There’s a lot of basketball left, a lot of opportunities. So, we’ve just got to stay together.”
Payton Sandfort repeated himself in that statement by twice mentioning that Iowa has to stay together.
Because one of the first signs that a team might be on the verge of collapse is players splintering into groups and pushing different agendas.
Payton Sandfort isn’t about to let that happen, and there are no signs of it happening right now with this Iowa team.
Iowa didn’t lose to last-place Minnesota because of not being together.

Iowa lost because it only made 3-of-21 shots from 3-point range, because it was outrebounded 38-33, and because it fell behind early by double digits and then spent the rest of the game trying to play catch up.
Starting guards Josh Dix Dix and Drew Thelwell also scored just three and two points, respectively, on a combined 2-of-12 shooting from the field.
The challenge now is to avoid a repeat performance on Friday against Penn State, which has its own problems at 3-5 in conference play.
Iowa usually doesn’t shoot from three as poorly as it did in the loss to Minnesota.
Payton Sandort missed seven of his eight shots from three, though he said to the media afterwards that there was a reason for it.
“I got fouled probably four or five times, and I’m pretty upset about that,” Payton Sandfort said.
Perhaps the Iowa men’s basketball team can gain inspiration from the Iowa women’s basketball team, which crushed Washington 85-61 Wednesday in Seattle to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Iowa men and women both need to start stacking up wins to have any chance of still making the NCAA Tournament.
If the men were to lose to Penn State on Friday, that would be back-to-back losses at home to two teams in the lower half of the conference. It would also drop Iowa (12-7, 3-5) three game below .500 in conference play.
So, if Friday’s game isn’t a must win for Iowa, it’s about as close as it can get.
Iowa and Minnesota played before a sparse crowd on Tuesday, due partly to the 8 p.m. tipoff and to the frigid temperature.
There was very little energy in the arena, and Minnesota took advantage of that by starting fast and never letting up until the very end when Iowa closed to within three points.
Friday’s game against Penn State will also start at 8 p.m., but the temperature is expected to be warmer than it was for the Minnesota game.
There is also no school the next day, so maybe that will help to draw more fans.
Penn State, meanwhile, snapped a four-game losing streak with an 80-72 home victory over Rutgers this past Monday in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions opened the season with 12 wins, including an 81-70 victory over Purdue, in its first 14 games before losing four straight games against Indiana, at Illinois, Oregon and at Michigan State.
Four of the five Nittany Lion losses in Big Ten play (and five of six losses overall) have come by eight points or less.
The Nittany Lions have six players averaging in double figures on the season with guard Ace Baldwin, Jr., leading the way with 14.7 points per game.
Penn State (13-6, 3-5 ) vs. Iowa (12-7, 3-5)
When: Friday, 8:07 p.m.
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena
TV: FS1
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network
All-time series: Friday’s game will be the 56th meeting in the all-time series with Iowa leading 34-21. The Nittany Lions have won three of the last four in the series.
Iowa won the most recent meeting, winning 90-81 in Iowa City on Feb. 27, 2024. Payton Sandfort registered the first triple-double in Iowa men’s basketball history, finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and three blocks.
The Hawkeyes have won the last four in the series inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena and is 20-5 at home against Penn State all-time. The Nittany Lions’ last win in Iowa City came in 2017.